


Simple Kind of Man

by ObeyDontStray



Category: Stranger Things - Fandom
Genre: Depression, Other, introspective, vices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 20:03:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12395211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObeyDontStray/pseuds/ObeyDontStray
Summary: Chief Hopper has an introspective moment in the December following Will's rescue. Rated M for possible triggers.





	Simple Kind of Man

Hopper sat in his truck with the heat on full blast, his hands over his the vents with his gloves next to him on the seat. He held the thermos of coffee between his thighs, thankful for the warmth. Ten minutes before his shift at the lab started. The December night air was chilly and crisp and all of his windows were fogged, despite his breath being misty when he exhaled. He shook a cigarette from the pack, planted it between his lips and flicked open his Zippo, sparking a flame to life and lighting his cigarette. 

Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Simple Man' played on the radio, the low and melancholy sound filling his soul. His head swirled with thoughts. Joyce. The lab. The department. His shitty empty trailer. 

There was a jagged, cannonball sized hole in his chest that only he could feel. Right inside his ribs, where his heart should be. A bottomless pit. And he was still throwing things into the void, trying to fill it. Sure, saving Will Byers felt good. That thankful, relieved look on Joyce's face when Will took that breath. But that night Hopper lay on his back in bed, washed down in sweat after dreaming that that punch hadn't brought the boy back to life. 

Joyce always gave him sad little smiles now in town. She'd whispered a quiet thank you one afternoon this week, honoring the pact between them that they wouldn't speak of the event again. He had given her a reassuring smile to match hers, but inside the hole grew bigger. 

The pills didn't even make him numb anymore. He already was numb inside. Whiskey made the edges of the hole burn, but at least he felt something when he drank. And the women he took home, well at least they kept his thighs warm. 

"Oh, take your time, don't live too fast. Troubles will come and they will pass. You'll find a woman and you'll find love and don't forget, son, there is someone up above." He snorted at the radio. It had been a long, long time since he had been a simple man. A simple man with a beautiful woman, a good home, and a beautiful little girl. As for the someone up above, well...he'd have to dig down pretty far to find Jim Hopper under the wreckage of his life. 

His watch beeped and he turned his wrist to look at it. His ten minutes was up. He sighed, outed his cigarette, and killed the engine. He grabbed his hat and his coffee and headed for the door of the lab. 

 

Baby, be a simple, really simple man. Oh, be something you love and understand.


End file.
